A Lions win felt like a loss after the injury to Travis Lulay. Brian and Mojo chat about the game and talk about the Lulay situation before welcoming the one and only Ryan Phillips to the show to talk about his new role as a regional scout for the team.

We’ve also teamed up with MBNA to give you a chance to win tickets to the Lions and Eskimos game on October 21st, along with some swag to help cheer on the Leos.

On Friday, the BC Lions will likely announce the release of veteran defensive back Ryan Phillips. It will mark the end of an era in the Lions Den and will be the final chapter of one of the best defensive backfields the CFL has ever seen.

Like Korey Banks, and Dante Marsh before him, no player can escape the clock that GM and Head Coach, Wally Buono has in regards to players. Phillips and Buono had been in discussions over his role for 2017, and a reported pay cut as well. The two sides couldn’t agree on those scenarios and it’s reported that Phillips asked for his release.

In their prime, Banks, Marsh and Phillips formed “Lockdown U”. A self-named moniker that held true for several seasons and struck fear into receivers and quarterbacks across the CFL. All three should be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame one day, and if all is right in the world, all three will also be added to the Lions Ring of Honour as well.

Dante Marsh never played again after his release, Banks ended up in Winnipeg and didn’t last long after they decided he wasn’t a starter. Phillips obviously still feels he can play and is also chasing that 50th interception, just two away from the mark.

So he will test the waters and see if there are any takers while leaving behind the only CFL team he has played for.

Following the release of Marsh, I wrote a blog a bout how Phillips was the last man standing from the trio of Lockdown U. It was meant as a tribute to Ryan, but as any proud player would, he took exception to my thought that while he wasn’t the best tackler on the team, his leadership was invaluable. We talked about it, and I apologized if he saw it as a slight, but it was never my intention to insult him. He played two more seasons for the Lions and was a huge contributor in mentoring young players like Keynan Parker, Ronnie Yell and TJ Lee, among others.

At the end of last season, Phillips said he had no desire to play anywhere else but BC. Obviously, he has changed his mind, and he has earned that right to try and continue his career. He’s been around Wally Buono long enough to realize that this day might be coming, and he’s ready to end his career in another uniform, just like Geroy Simon. No player is immune when Buono decides the best before date has come.

But make no mistake, Phillips bleeds orange and understands the business of football. Don’t be surprised that when he finally decides to hang up his cleats, he signs a one-day contract in BC and retires a Lion. Very rarely in sports these days do players finish their careers with one team, and Phillips lasted longer than the average player does.

He’s one of the all-time greats, not only as a BC Lion, but as a CFL player, and we were lucky to have him in orange and black as long as we did.

He’ll always be a Lion, no matter where he finishes his career and Lions fans will be ready to welcome him to the Ring of Honour, along with Banks and Marsh when and if the club deems it appropriate. And if there is any question about that, this blogger will be sure to be campaigning hard for it to happen.

For years the BC Lions secondary was the picture of continuity. Dante Marsh, Korey Banks and Ryan Phillips could read each other like a book and the Lions reaped the rewards of their cohesiveness. They quickly became fixtures on the team and won two Grey Cups as a group anointing themselves ‘Lockdown U’.

Ryan Phillips will be starting his 11th season with the Lions.

Two seasons ago they talked about finishing their careers together as BC Lions. The “Grey Beards” as they referred to themselves, all felt they were still at the top of their game. They aged like fine wine, they said.

But their dream of retiring together proved to be just that. In 2014 Wally Buono decided that Banks’ best days were behind him, and at the conclusion of that year, he decided that it was time Marsh was replaced as well. As in all pro sports, the choice is rarely the that of the athlete.

Wally Buono has never been afraid of change and very rarely is he wrong. After being traded to Winnipeg, Banks scoffed at his role with the Bombers and retired. Dante Marsh has yet to find work with a club since his release, but has told me he’s fine with working on his clothing line and personal training business if the right offer doesn’t come along.

Phillips might have been next, if not for the fact of his durability and leadership value to the team, and as such it was announced he would receive an extension through 2016, even though the same thing had been an announced prior to the 2014 season.

He starts his 11th season in the CFL, all of them with the BC Lions. He has never missed a game in his career (all 180 of them) which is the longest active streak in the CFL. Phillips will be counted on to be a veteran presence in a secondary that has been overhauled the last two season with promising results. The additions of Cord Parks, TJ Lee, Ronnie Yell and Josh Johnson have been solid. The Lions hope to have free agent signing Chris Rwabukamba address their need for a national safety, and also have the snake bitten Matt McGarva returning from injury as insurance.

Phillips will be counted on to be the man that guides the unit. His 40 interceptions are second only to Lions legend Larry Crawford who tallied 51 over his career. It would likely be tough for Phillips to reach that mark over the next two seasons, and really there is no guarantee he will be here past this campaign. But for now, the Lions simply find his intangibles too valuable to let go.

Playing in BC is perfect for Phillips, who resides in Washington State and is a school teacher in the off-season. In 2006 he completed his degree in Secondary Education and enjoys working as a substitute teacher in the Seattle school system. Something that is not a surprise if you’ve ever seen him around young fans.

His work in the community is well documented as well, as evidenced by a charity basketball game he held last spring benefiting the BC/Yukon division of Make-A-Wish.

So while two of his fellow mainstays are gone, Phillips churns on. He may not be the player he was five years ago. Not many out there would consider him the best tackler on the team either. But to Wally Buono his other qualities have made him; the last man standing.

Every year in the Training Camp Guide the BC Lions produce, there is a section that outlines events and records that could take place during the upcoming season. I thought it would be fun to post some of those here for those fans that didn’t get a copy of the guide. If you would like a copy it was still available on the club’s website at the time of this post.

There are some pretty great milestones that could be reached in 2014, here are some of them.

Secondary Milestones

Ryan Phillips needs one interception in 2014 to move past Norm Fieldgate (37) into 2nd place among all-time club leaders. He would then trail only Larry Crawford’s club record total of 51.

With three more tackles Phillips will move into the #4 spot all-time among BC Lions. Javier Glatt’s 412 stops are next up the ladder.

Dante Marsh has played 169 regular season games (#16 all-time) and with a full 18-game log in 2014 can move as high as #10 on the club’s all-time list passing Brent Johnson & Paris Jackson at 185.

Sitting at 579 tackles, Marsh needs 21 defensive or special teams tackles to become the first BC Lion to reach 600 for his career.

Marsh needs one more interception to become the sixth Lions player to reach 30.

Pivot Possibilities

Travis Lulay (14,813 yards) can move up to #3 on the Lions’ all-time passing yards list with 1,724 more. Joe Kapp’s 16,536 yards is now #3 on the club’s all-time list.

Lulay needs 11 touchdown passes to reach 100 for his career. Only two Lions pivots have ever reached the 100 TD mark. Damon Allen is the all-time leader at 136.

Special Teams Demons

Jason Arakgi has 135 special teams tackles and needs 6 more to become the BC Lions all-time leader. Sean Millington piled up 140 in his 148 games in a BC uniform. Jason’s first game of 2014 will be his 104th for BC.

With 63 points in 2014 Paul McCallum can move past Paul Osbaldiston (2,932) and into 3rd place in all-time CFL scoring. McCallum has scored 2,870 points in 21 seasons including 1,340 as a BC Lion (second on the team’s all-time scoring list to Lui Passaglia’s 3,991 total points). With 125 points in 2014, Paul can go past Mark McLoughlin (2,994) and into the #2 spot all-time behind only Passaglia.

Club Marks

A first place finish would be the club’s fourth in the last five years, the fourteenth in club history and the seventh in the last 11 years.

If the Lions can finish in 2014 with at least a 10-8 mark, they will bring their all-time regular season record to .500 or better for the first time in club history. As an expansion team BC started off 19-61, but have steadily worked back to 495-497-24 posting a 164-105-1 (.609) record since 1999 – 59 games above .500.

With at least 10 wins in 2014, it would be four straight years with at least a double-digit win total. BC won 11 regular season games in 2013, their 25th time in 60 seasons with 10+ victories.

With another spot in a division Final in 2014, the Lions would extend their successful stretch to nine berths in the last 11 years in the game that leads straight to the Grey Cup. BC has played in the Western Final seven times and once in the eastern Final in the last 10 seasons.

With a playoff berth in 2014, the Lions would extend their post-season appearance streak to 18 seasons. That would equal the 2nd longest streak in league history.

If the Lions score 31 points in their home opener, they will hit 24,000 points all-time.

With a total attendance of 14,820,886 at 526 previous home regular season and playoff games, the Lions can reach the 15 million mark in 2014.

General Manager Wally Buono will be looking for his eighth career Grey Cup championship heading into 2014. Buono earned two as a player with Montreal in 1974 and 1977 and another five as Head Coach including two with the Lions in 2006 and 2011.

Those are some of the things we can look forward to as the season begins on Saturday against the Edmonton Eskimos. It should be another great year of BC Lions football.

It came down to the wire, but the BC Lions signed two more of their own Wednesday morning as the team announced that Ryan Phillips and Dante Marsh would be back with the team in 2012.

Farhan Lalji of TSN broke the story last night indicating the sides had agreed to new deals but the contracts were not officially done until this morning.

The signings give the Lions defence a solid boost of of continuity on defence, with Solomon Elimimian the only huge loss so far. That said, popular defensive lineman Aaron Hunt has not been as successful with his dealings with the Lions and is currently shopping himself around the league as a free agent, with Hamilton and Winnipeg said to be interested in his services. It would likely have to be a full time playing role and a starters wage for Hunt to move, which apparently the reason why he hasn’t re-signed with the Lions.

There have also been rumblings the Lions could be bringing former Stubler protege Byron Parker into the fold, which would leave the secondary very crowded but stacked with talent.